[poison heart]

Nice, what is unit stock?

[70Steve]

This was on ebay.

[greggutknecht]

Its hard to believe they use to race indoors.Met Ray at Rick Johnsons trailer at the grove a couple years ago and got to hear some good stories.Greg

[77 TRASHCAN]

Hey 70Steve,
Do you know who's car that is in pic, on fire???

Anybody know???

The maroon 57 looks like it has Iowa plates

I've enjoyed these pic's!!! waiting for more !!!

[Steve Barcak]

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

Hey 70Steve,
Do you know who's car that is in pic, on fire???

Anybody know???

The maroon 57 looks like it has Iowa plates

I've enjoyed these pic's!!! waiting for more !!!

Sure, it was Lew Arringtons 'Brutus' GTO funny car. At the time of this photo, it ran a 392. Cause of fire was a trans explosion. Driver was not injured if I remember correctly. Must have been a mess for the track officials to clean up. The location was Lions Drag Strip in Wilmington, Ca.

[70Steve]

Thanks for the detail Steve B. I knew it was Brutus, but not where or when. Do you know who was in the "Hot seat" at the time of the pic? Very lucky to get out of that unscathed. When did they convert to the 392?

[Steve Barcak]

Originally Posted by 70Steve

Thanks for the detail Steve B. I knew it was Brutus, but not where or when. Do you know who was in the "Hot seat" at the time of the pic? Very lucky to get out of that unscathed. When did they convert to the 392?

Not positive on the driver but, it was most likely Lew Arrington, Sr. Do not know exact date of 392 swap but, was early in the cars life. They had some valvetrain problems with the Pontiac HEMI and due to the many lucrative match races available to them at the time, siimply switched to a proven combo with the 392. Remember, it was a very different time back then with 3-5 match races a week ( that paid well by the way), if you could meet that demanding schedule.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Thanks Steve.
Arnie was at the GTOAA event in Wichita. There was a round table forum with he, Jess Tyree, Jim Wangers, Craig Hendricksen, John Clegg, Art Peterson, and a couple more.

Arnie had described a fire incident that looks like the picture in question, I've never seen him run in the olden days, so I had no clue, I was too young, although I grew up in Iowa, not too far from where he is in Illinois.

[Steve Barcak]

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

Thanks Steve.
Arnie was at the GTOAA event in Wichita. There was a round table forum with he, Jess Tyree, Jim Wangers, Craig Hendricksen, John Clegg, Art Peterson, and a couple more.

Arnie had described a fire incident that looks like the picture in question, I've never seen him run in the olden days, so I had no clue, I was too young, although I grew up in Iowa, not too far from where he is in Illinois.

I was too young also but, I have extensively studied fast Pontiac powered drag cars all my life. I bought my first Arnie Beswick b/w poster at the age of 8 and still have it. Arnie did have a bad fire caused by a trans explosion, probably similiar to the Brutus deal, in his '64 White GTO. This must have happened in the summer/fall of 1965 or possibly winter 65/66 ( before his Tempest was ready) as is that is when he was primarily running that car with the blower, etc. His biography on tape says he was hospitalized and, after that, began wearing a fire suit. To me, those were the most exciting and dedicated years as a Beswick fan as he decided to stick with Pontiac power after the GM racing ban ( where most other GM racers switched to Ford/Merc/Mopar. He starting running a blower and running nitro to take on the factory cars of other makes. Arnie was also the first to put a late model door slammer in the 9s at York US 30 against Ronnie Sox in early 1965.
That is the only major fire I am aware of that Arnie had in the day. Of course, he had another very bad fire recently with his chev powered N2O GTO. Not sure when, maybe 5 years back? That is scary stuff and I am glad he came through all of it OK.

These are the reasons why NHRA requires trans blankets or SFI cases. Because of these rules, it is fairly a rare thing to see a bad trans explosion with resultant fire and injury in the last 20-30 years.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Steve,
I wish you culd have been at the GTO deal in Wichita, it was Great. I am thankful for all that were repsonsible for putting it on, and for allowing myself and my 2 friends to get registered on site, we were not knowledgeable about having to be registered to get into the event, it was a great time for us.

Arnie was in a round table session w/ the others I mentioned earlier. He was telling the story where he had just gotten this new "hot deal" torque converter, I think from GM???
Someone correct me if I'm wrong. First past on new converter, that thing fireballed. Arnie said he was wearing a Tee shirt, helmet, sunglasses (I believe). He had installed the converter @ Jess Tyree's shop.

Arnie spoke of running a Ford Funny Car for a short time. The cammer engine would suck an exhaust valve, he'd have to send the whole engine back to Ford for repairs, because they would not let him (I guess anybody?) open the engine up to work on. Well, in between Cammer valve repairs, Arnie was running his Pontiac. THe Ford folks didn't care much for that, I think he gave them the Ford car back...

It really sucks how your memory fades as you get older. My one buddy that was at Wichita w/ me lived only a short distance from Arnie's town, has been to his house, along time ago, I am sure Arnie doesn't remember. My buddy got to talk to Art Peterson @ Wichita. He had flown to the World Finals in 1982, stayed at Art's house, Art doesn't EVEN remember that....LOL..

[aushiedog]

It was an all Pontiac(61s) final at the 1962 Indy Nationals. The winner was Bill Sasse from Cleveland Ohio beating Bob Harrop in another 1961 black sedan. Here is Bill with a few of his trophies from either 1961 or 1962 and his poncho that was completely tuned and raced by Bill and his father Harry--Harry's Atlantic in Cleveland. Although Bill delayed registering for the Nationals, he was able to use an entry from Arlen Vanke and ran under the name of "Tin Indian Too." This was the year that the 421s and Mopars ran in SS/S. This was a 368HP super duty and consistently ran in the low 13s at 109+MPH. You are probably familiar with the picture at the Nationals with the D/A tower at the starting line and Sasse and Harrop running off for the title. Good times, 50 years ago.
This was posted in error in another thread.

[Ron Landis]

Originally Posted by aushiedog

It was an all Pontiac(61s) final at the 1962 Indy Nationals. The winner was Bill Sasse from Cleveland Ohio beating Bob Harrop in another 1961 black sedan. Here is Bill with a few of his trophies from either 1961 or 1962 and his poncho that was completely tuned and raced by Bill and his father Harry--Harry's Atlantic in Cleveland. Although Bill delayed registering for the Nationals, he was able to use an entry from Arlen Vanke and ran under the name of "Tin Indian Too." This was the year that the 421s and Mopars ran in SS/S. This was a 368HP super duty and consistently ran in the low 13s at 109+MPH. You are probably familiar with the picture at the Nationals with the D/A tower at the starting line and Sasse and Harrop running off for the title. Good times, 50 years ago.
This was posted in error in another thread.

A guy I know was just restoring the very same car...a black '61 "shelftop" or "batwing"...I've heard them referred to as both. Gotta luv 'em!

[triathlonx13]

....

[RAM AIR V]

JERRY STILL OWNS IT AND IT WILL BE AT NORWALK NEXT YEAR.

[misterp266]

This was posted in "best Pontiac stories" thought it belonged here too. Nice pic of Truman Fields in there amongst others I haven't seen before. A bunch of '60's full size cars too!

http://www.oldhippie.com/forums/drag...per-stock.html

Of course I love Jack Mullin's wagon for obvious reasons!

[wreckmastr]

[wreckmastr]

[triathlonx13]

one more good one

[Jeff Hamlin]

Glad to see this post come back up.
How about a slide show?...


http://s412.photobucket.com/albums/p...view=slideshow

[wreckmastr]